Angel of Day, Angel of Night
by Betsy
Summary: A fantasy AU. Tai and Kari are prince and princess, and Tai is heir. However, as he lacks tact he'd be an awful king. But Kari can't be made heir... Not unless something unlikely happens...
1.

Angel of Day, Angel of Night  


  
Author's note to all Mercedes Lackey fans: Remember, imitation isthe sincerest form of flattery. No flames, please (on that topic anyway).I know I got some ideas from her Herald books, but I hereby acknowledge mydebt and encourage all those who have not read them to pick up a copy of_Magic's Pawn_ immediately.  
General Disclaimer: I don't own Digimon (duh!). 

  
Angel of day and angel of night  
Angel of hope and angel of light  
Sunrise and star-rise, shine on us bright  
Angel of day and angel of night  
  
Dark's evil power has built far too long  
Gone are the heroes of story and song  
Come then, O angels, right this great wrong  
Dark's evil power has built far too long  
  
Come to the mountain and come to the sea  
Come to the dale and valley and tree  
Heal with your power and set the healed free  
Come to the mountain and come to the sea  
  
Master of shadows to dark people binds  
For murder and mayhem and evil, all kinds  
To find him the power to rule his dark finds  
Master of shadows to dark people binds  
  
Angels together please always go  
For in the darkness the shadow will know  
Watch and be wary or serve your great foe  
Angels together please always go  
  
And someone someday dark power will break  
In mountain and valley, in desert and lake  
Angels, watch for chances to take  
And someone someday dark power will break  
  
Angel of day and angel of night  
Angel of hope and angel of light  
Sunrise and star-rise, shine on us bright  
Angel of day and angel of night

—Prophecy that, as the story opens, has been around for a long time... unfufilled.  



	2. 

Chapter One  


  
"We have called you here today," the King said, "to discuss the small matter of the succession." Everyone on the Council, King and Queen included, groaned inwardly. This was _not_ going to be pleasant. The King and Queen had two children, the 18-year-old Prince Taichi and the 16-year-old Princess Hikari. The prince and current heir had no diplomatic talent whatsoever, merely average intelligence, and a strong stubborn streak. These traits taken together, although no detraction from the fact that he was an extremely nice human being, would make him a horrid ruler. Princess Hikari, on the other hand, was invariably kind and tactful, and always took care to analyze the situation before rushing in. In short, a perfect Queen. There was just one tiny problem…  


"Two years ago, when Taichi was Chosen as a Guardian, we all hoped that one of two things would happen. One, that the responsibility of Guardianship would mellow him somewhat, or two, Hikari would be Chosen, allowing us to confirm her as Heir and bump Taichi down to heir-presumptive. Neither has happened. Or rather, the first has happened, but he hasn't mellowed enough. The good news is that he won't drive the country into ruin in five years; the bad news is that he'll instead wait ten. And Hikari is now sixteen, and each passing day lessens the probability that she will be Chosen by a Digipartner, allowing us to install her as Heir. We are therefore facing a slight crisis. Any ideas?" The Queen's monologue ended on that questioning note.  
"Would it be possible to marry the prince off to some obscure, faraway kingdom, and therefore get him out of the line of succession?" queried Sir Ichida, the head of the army.  
"I think that that would be a horrible idea," objected Gennai, the oldest and wisest mage in the land. "First, it would be a horrid blow to the general morale of the people if we eliminated the Heir, who after all is a symbol of continuity for the people. And also, it would mean that if Hikari is not Chosen, then it would hand the kingdom of File to some foreign country. Bad idea all around. Especially as the Prince just announced his engagement to Sora Takenouchi."  
"What?!" demanded the Queen.  
"He announced his engagement to Sora Takenouchi a minute or so ago. I'm a mage, I can be expected to know these things," he said rather snappishly. He didn't like having his wisdom doubted.  
"Takenouchi… where have I heard that name before?" questioned Healer Jim Kido, the head of the Healer's College.  
"Takenouchi Family controls the Duchy of Merame Mountain, in northern File." supplied Sir Ichida. "They're a very small Family. The Duke died a year after the sole child, the aforementioned Sora, was born." Sir Ichida took this fact as an almost personal affront, as it meant there would be no knights for him to order about at Merame Mountain this generation; Sora Takenouchi had a minor healing Gift, and because of that was completely averse to becoming a Valknight, or female warrior. "In this context, I actually think a marriage to Sora is a good idea. She needs to marry in order to preserve her Family, and if Hikari is Chosen, after all, the small size of Takenouchi Family would be a good pretext for making her Heir."  
After some discussion it was generally agreed that Sir Ichida had proposed a good plan. They then discussed the only other piece of Council business at that time; Sir Ichida believed that his eldest son, Squire Yamato, was ready for knighting.  
  
A small fireball grew in Prince Taichi's hand and he threw it at a target. He missed, causing his fiancée to shriek in pain. She started to yell at him. "I might be a demiHealer, but that doesn't make me a practice target! Taichi, aim next time!" She continued in this vein for several minutes while her wound healed. She was a demiHealer, or one with a healing Gift so small it could not be used consciously. However, she could unconsciously and automatically Heal herself of any wound she received. She could also similarly Heal anyone who she had a deep emotional bond with. The strength of the Healing, of course, depended on the strength of the bond.  
The other Guardian-trainees looked on not with concern but with amusement. The present spectacle was not exactly an uncommon occurrence. Prince Taichi was something of a klutz and could never aim his fireballs correctly. More often than not, the errant fireballs would hit the Lady Sora. This was rather fortunate, as she could recover the quickest; a demiHealer's instinctive reaction to injury was usually much quicker than the conscious response of a true Healer.  
It was amazing that that the stubborn, "Let's use twice as much force as necessary to avoid the need to aim" prince had proposed to the quiet demiHealer who never used more force than was needed. It was even more surprising that gentle Lady Sora had responded "Yes." But despite the almost incessant arguing that could be sparked during practice sessions, it was generally agreed that they would make an excellent couple—once Taichi learned to aim.  
To forestall further argument, a fellow trainee, the orphaned but brilliant Koushiro, stepped in. He suggested that they step aside to allow him to do some target practice. They stepped aside rather quickly. In addition to being a trainee Guardian, Koushiro was also an apprentice mage. Who knew how many offensive spells he could use? He began to throw purple lightning at the target. Soon, their trainer Gennai told him that he should stop hogging the target as he didn't need the practice. He blushed to the roots of his already red hair and stepped aside. A few people later, Squire Yamato was throwing balls of blue ice at the target when a messenger arrived from the palace. He was told to report to his father immediately after finding his younger brother Takeru, who was not a trainee and therefore could be anywhere.  
  
"So, sons, I think you're probably wondering why I called you here." They shook their heads. "Oh! No, I didn't mind about _that_. The Queen found it rather creative, in fact." They sighed their relief. They had expected to be punished for a practical joke they had played about a week ago. But with punishment out of the way as a topic, what could their father want them for? "Yamato, you've been a wonderful squire to me. You've always been helpful and paid close attention to your training. So close attention, in fact, that it's time for you to leave me as a squire. I'll miss your constant attention, but I've been selfish to hold you back as long as you have. Squire Yamato, on the next full moon you will no longer be a squire. Page Takeru, on the next full moon you will no longer be a page."  
"Father! You can't mean…?" They both gasped their astonishment.  
"Yes. You will undergo the ceremony of knighthood, Yamato, and you, Takeru, will be bound to him as a squire in that same ceremony. Now, you must prepare. First step is a full royal audience to confirm your readiness and willingness to undergo the ceremony."  
They got into full formal garb, which, in accordance with centuries of tradition, was as uncomfortable and awkward as possible. The purpose of this was, presumably, to speed up court functions, which File's founders had correctly believed to be necessary but only in moderation. The theory was that if everyone wanted to get away and change as soon as possible, they would hurry up in order to leave and get out of these nasty, heavy, hot, etc., clothes.  
Their suits consisted of scratchy shirts, pants that pinched in embarrassing places, and heavy jackets that would have been sweat-traps even in winter. As it was full summer, they were absolutely miserable and just wanted to find a very large block of ice, rather than spend the day in a stuffy throne room. Apparently the theory worked in practice.  
When they got to the throne room, they were amazed. It was a lot less crowded than it was for most state functions. Instead of the usual gaggle of any and all nobles that lived within a day's travel, there was just the immediate royal family. King, Queen, Heir, and… "Who's that?" whispered Takeru.  
"The Princess Hikari, little bro. You don't see much of her. She might have been Heir, but she's unChosen so she's not. Too bad. She'd be a wonderful Queen." He didn't say, "Much better than Taichi." But the Takeru heard that unspoken comment.  
"She's so _pretty._" Yamato smiled at his little brother indulgently. He was sixteen, but he seemed much younger than that in so many ways.  
They walked together down the carpet that led to the thrones, following their father. He stopped about a yard before the thrones and stepped aside, but motioned to them to continue. They stopped a foot in front of the King, Queen, Prince, and Princess. The King spoke first. "You, Squire Yamato, have been recommended to us for knighthood. We have a few questions for you to determine your suitability." Yamato gulped. His dad hadn't said anything about questioning… Oh well, maybe it was just a formality.  
"First," the Queen said, "and foremost, do you think you are ready to accept the responsibility of knighthood?"  
"No, ma'am." He immediately began to berate himself for that piece of stupidity. He could never become a knight if he didn't think himself ready. But in his heart he realized that he wasn't ready, and probably never would be, for that enormous responsibility.  
"Good answer," replied the Queen. "If you had said anything else, we would have questioned you much further. As it is, we have no further questions. Go to the temple and see the priest. He will instruct you in what to do during the ceremony.  



	3. 

Chapter One  


  
"We have called you here today," the King said, "to discuss the small matter of the succession." Everyone on the Council, King and Queen included, groaned inwardly. This was _not_ going to be pleasant. The King and Queen had two children, the 18-year-old Prince Taichi and the 16-year-old Princess Hikari. The prince and current heir had no diplomatic talent whatsoever, merely average intelligence, and a strong stubborn streak. These traits taken together, although no detraction from the fact that he was an extremely nice human being, would make him a horrid ruler. Princess Hikari, on the other hand, was invariably kind and tactful, and always took care to analyze the situation before rushing in. In short, a perfect Queen. There was just one tiny problem…  


"Two years ago, when Taichi was Chosen as a Guardian, we all hoped that one of two things would happen. One, that the responsibility of Guardianship would mellow him somewhat, or two, Hikari would be Chosen, allowing us to confirm her as Heir and bump Taichi down to heir-presumptive. Neither has happened. Or rather, the first has happened, but he hasn't mellowed enough. The good news is that he won't drive the country into ruin in five years; the bad news is that he'll instead wait ten. And Hikari is now sixteen, and each passing day lessens the probability that she will be Chosen by a Digipartner, allowing us to install her as Heir. We are therefore facing a slight crisis. Any ideas?" The Queen's monologue ended on that questioning note.  
"Would it be possible to marry the prince off to some obscure, faraway kingdom, and therefore get him out of the line of succession?" queried Sir Ichida, the head of the army.  
"I think that that would be a horrible idea," objected Gennai, the oldest and wisest mage in the land. "First, it would be a horrid blow to the general morale of the people if we eliminated the Heir, who after all is a symbol of continuity for the people. And also, it would mean that if Hikari is not Chosen, then it would hand the kingdom of File to some foreign country. Bad idea all around. Especially as the Prince just announced his engagement to Sora Takenouchi."  
"What?!" demanded the Queen.  
"He announced his engagement to Sora Takenouchi a minute or so ago. I'm a mage, I can be expected to know these things," he said rather snappishly. He didn't like having his wisdom doubted.  
"Takenouchi… where have I heard that name before?" questioned Healer Jim Kido, the head of the Healer's College.  
"Takenouchi Family controls the Duchy of Merame Mountain, in northern File." supplied Sir Ichida. "They're a very small Family. The Duke died a year after the sole child, the aforementioned Sora, was born." Sir Ichida took this fact as an almost personal affront, as it meant there would be no knights for him to order about at Merame Mountain this generation; Sora Takenouchi had a minor healing Gift, and because of that was completely averse to becoming a Valknight, or female warrior. "In this context, I actually think a marriage to Sora is a good idea. She needs to marry in order to preserve her Family, and if Hikari is Chosen, after all, the small size of Takenouchi Family would be a good pretext for making her Heir."  
After some discussion it was generally agreed that Sir Ichida had proposed a good plan. They then discussed the only other piece of Council business at that time; Sir Ichida believed that his eldest son, Squire Yamato, was ready for knighting.  
  
A small fireball grew in Prince Taichi's hand and he threw it at a target. He missed, causing his fiancée to shriek in pain. She started to yell at him. "I might be a demiHealer, but that doesn't make me a practice target! Taichi, aim next time!" She continued in this vein for several minutes while her wound healed. She was a demiHealer, or one with a healing Gift so small it could not be used consciously. However, she could unconsciously and automatically Heal herself of any wound she received. She could also similarly Heal anyone who she had a deep emotional bond with. The strength of the Healing, of course, depended on the strength of the bond.  
The other Guardian-trainees looked on not with concern but with amusement. The present spectacle was not exactly an uncommon occurrence. Prince Taichi was something of a klutz and could never aim his fireballs correctly. More often than not, the errant fireballs would hit the Lady Sora. This was rather fortunate, as she could recover the quickest; a demiHealer's instinctive reaction to injury was usually much quicker than the conscious response of a true Healer.  
It was amazing that that the stubborn, "Let's use twice as much force as necessary to avoid the need to aim" prince had proposed to the quiet demiHealer who never used more force than was needed. It was even more surprising that gentle Lady Sora had responded "Yes." But despite the almost incessant arguing that could be sparked during practice sessions, it was generally agreed that they would make an excellent couple—once Taichi learned to aim.  
To forestall further argument, a fellow trainee, the orphaned but brilliant Koushiro, stepped in. He suggested that they step aside to allow him to do some target practice. They stepped aside rather quickly. In addition to being a trainee Guardian, Koushiro was also an apprentice mage. Who knew how many offensive spells he could use? He began to throw purple lightning at the target. Soon, their trainer Gennai told him that he should stop hogging the target as he didn't need the practice. He blushed to the roots of his already red hair and stepped aside. A few people later, Squire Yamato was throwing balls of blue ice at the target when a messenger arrived from the palace. He was told to report to his father immediately after finding his younger brother Takeru, who was not a trainee and therefore could be anywhere.  
  
"So, sons, I think you're probably wondering why I called you here." They shook their heads. "Oh! No, I didn't mind about _that_. The Queen found it rather creative, in fact." They sighed their relief. They had expected to be punished for a practical joke they had played about a week ago. But with punishment out of the way as a topic, what could their father want them for? "Yamato, you've been a wonderful squire to me. You've always been helpful and paid close attention to your training. So close attention, in fact, that it's time for you to leave me as a squire. I'll miss your constant attention, but I've been selfish to hold you back as long as you have. Squire Yamato, on the next full moon you will no longer be a squire. Page Takeru, on the next full moon you will no longer be a page."  
"Father! You can't mean…?" They both gasped their astonishment.  
"Yes. You will undergo the ceremony of knighthood, Yamato, and you, Takeru, will be bound to him as a squire in that same ceremony. Now, you must prepare. First step is a full royal audience to confirm your readiness and willingness to undergo the ceremony."  
They got into full formal garb, which, in accordance with centuries of tradition, was as uncomfortable and awkward as possible. The purpose of this was, presumably, to speed up court functions, which File's founders had correctly believed to be necessary but only in moderation. The theory was that if everyone wanted to get away and change as soon as possible, they would hurry up in order to leave and get out of these nasty, heavy, hot, etc., clothes.  
Their suits consisted of scratchy shirts, pants that pinched in embarrassing places, and heavy jackets that would have been sweat-traps even in winter. As it was full summer, they were absolutely miserable and just wanted to find a very large block of ice, rather than spend the day in a stuffy throne room. Apparently the theory worked in practice.  
When they got to the throne room, they were amazed. It was a lot less crowded than it was for most state functions. Instead of the usual gaggle of any and all nobles that lived within a day's travel, there was just the immediate royal family. King, Queen, Heir, and… "Who's that?" whispered Takeru.  
"The Princess Hikari, little bro. You don't see much of her. She might have been Heir, but she's unChosen so she's not. Too bad. She'd be a wonderful Queen." He didn't say, "Much better than Taichi." But the Takeru heard that unspoken comment.  
"She's so _pretty._" Yamato smiled at his little brother indulgently. He was sixteen, but he seemed much younger than that in so many ways.  
They walked together down the carpet that led to the thrones, following their father. He stopped about a yard before the thrones and stepped aside, but motioned to them to continue. They stopped a foot in front of the King, Queen, Prince, and Princess. The King spoke first. "You, Squire Yamato, have been recommended to us for knighthood. We have a few questions for you to determine your suitability." Yamato gulped. His dad hadn't said anything about questioning… Oh well, maybe it was just a formality.  
"First," the Queen said, "and foremost, do you think you are ready to accept the responsibility of knighthood?"  
"No, ma'am." He immediately began to berate himself for that piece of stupidity. He could never become a knight if he didn't think himself ready. But in his heart he realized that he wasn't ready, and probably never would be, for that enormous responsibility.  
"Good answer," replied the Queen. "If you had said anything else, we would have questioned you much further. As it is, we have no further questions. Go to the temple and see the priest. He will instruct you in what to do during the ceremony.  



	4. 

Chapter Three  
  


Along the shadowed pathways of the palace grounds, a boy moved stealthily. He was going to... _What am I doing here anyway?_ the boy asked himself. _What _am _I doing, and why?_ His mind dissmissed those concerns. What mattered was getting his job, whatever it was, done...  
His job, although he did not know it as such, was a mission of assasination. His master had decided that the mage known as Gennai was powerful enough to detect what he was doing, and had decided that the best way to prevent such detection was to remove Gennai from the status of mage, and in fact remove him from the status of living human. Ken had been chosen to effect this... removal.  
He moved in a half-dream, knowing precisely what he had to do but not seeing the forest for the trees. Some mental block was within him that prevented his connecting the actions of climbing the stairs to a room, walking in, and knifing someone in the back in to one coherent whole: murder.  
It was unlikely that he'd care even if he knew. The same event that had placed that mental block had also given him a sense of purpose, but only one purpose. That was to perform as quickly and efficiently as possible whatever tasks his master set before him. And these tasks never included evaluating the moral rightness of an act.  
He suddenly had a thought. _Why do you follow your master this way?_ The thought couldn't be his—it referred to him in second person, after all—but somehow it was a natural enough thought for him to think. Even though he'd never once thought anything similar during his five years of enslavement.  
_Enslavement... why did I just use that word? Is it? I suppose..._ And he turned back to his task, for nothing that interrupted it could possibly be as important as getting it done. But although his mind fought against it, _something_ was making it think about the repercussions of what he was about to do. He tried to reach out to whatever that was and see why it was bothering him, but the only impressions he got from that other mind were thoughts of freedom.  
He was so wrapped up in that inner turmoil that he stumbled, and landed upon a small wormlike creature. He picked himself up absently, so caught up in his war within that he dared not pay attention to anything without. But some prod—perhaps from that unknown other—made him look at it, and see it it had been hurt. And when he made eye contact, to see if it were crying, its shape suddenly changed to that of a deadly-looking humanoid bug. His detachment from the world around was so complete that he didn't even draw back in fear. And then he suddenly began to notice the world again, as he realized what the thing before him was—the first piece of realizing anything he'd done in five years. It was a Digipartner. And he had been Chosen.  
As he once again remembered how to make these mental connections, he realized exactly what he had been about to do. And he resolved not to do it. He realized precisely what evil he had done unknowingly. He accepted this. But he would try to make up for everything he'd done enslaved with many good deeds as a Guardian.  
  
The Council meeting that day was an urgent one. The night before there had been two incredibly unexpected events that were, by Murphy's Law, both probably essentially important and urgent, _and_ they still needed to plan the prince's wedding. The previous night, there had been the squire vigil of Takeru. He had sucessfully kept the vigil, but he reported seeing a vision of some sort during it. And squire vigils were supposedly the least eventful thing to do at night aside from sleep. In addition to that, an assasination attempt on Gennai had voluntarily stopped when the would-be assasin was Chosen. A very eventful night. And now the Council meeting promised to be extremely eventful as well.  
"So," the King said. "Today we have three main orders of business. One, what exactly happened at Squire Takeru's vigil last night. Two, why Ken was about to assasinate Gennai, and three, Prince Taichi's upcoming marriage to Lady Sora. The latter we will definitely discuss last; although royal weddings are usually major headaches to plan, it can't be any more complicated than the other two issues."  
Although Council meetings were usually closed-door, Takeru was there because the meeting directly concerned him. He gave an account of the events at his vigil, strongly stressing the puzzlement he felt at its odd happenings. When he had finished, Healer Kido the elder said,  
"You're not alone in your bafflement, boy. Gennai? Have you recovered enough from your near brush with death to try and figure this out?"  
"I think it may be connected to the power surge in the Digiegg Hatchery a few years ago. Do you all remember that about seven years ago, there was a surge of power from the Digiegg Grove that was akin to the amount of power released in the creation of two Digieggs?"  
"And when we got there, nothing," said Kido. "What? You can't possibly mean..."  
"Kidnapping? Yes, I do. You remember that Takeru mentioned it seeming like a telempathic call for help. I think that it was, and from a kidnapped Digipartner. Unfortunately, if this is the case the kidnapper is fairly powerful; I haven't detected anything like that, so that either means there was no kidnapping or that the kidnapper has extremely good shields."  
There was a buzz of confused, slightly fearful chatter from the council. If this supposed kidnapper had enough power to shield from _Gennai_... The King's voice interrupted the talk.  
"If there was a kidnapping, then as Gennai can't sense anything we can't do much about it anyway. I'd advise everyone to be on the lookout for suspicious happenings, but that's about all that can be done. Now for the case of Ken."  
At this subtle order, Ken narrated what exactly had happened to him during the last five years, to the best of his ability, which wasn't really that well.  
"I'll tell you in advance, this account won't be at all complete. My memories of the time spent under Master Dark's control are very hazy, and I have a suspicion he made it that way on purpose, so if any of his 'servants' escaped he would have little to fear. All I can really remember is a ceremony of blood-bondage to tie me to him. I can't remember the details. After that, I served him in whatever he wanted. I can't recall exactly what I did anymore, but I suspect that much of it was rather like what I was about to do to Gennai. When I got here, though, I started actually thinking about what I was doing instead of following blind orders. I sort of couldn't wonder before, couldn't think, but something partly broke through the mental block Master Dark had laid. And then, of course, I literally stumbled across Stingme... Wormme then, and that broke my bond to Master Dark completely."  
"You said that he performed a blood-tie ceremony with you?" Gennai questioned.  
"Yes. Why?"  
"Come over here. This Master Dark you've told us about may well be the kidnapper. I might be able to trace him through whatever's left of the blood-bond." But it was no use. The blood-bond was completely and thouroghly gone from Ken. And although that meant that Ken would be completely safe from a relapse of this slave-mind-state, it also made it impossible for Gennai to trace the bond. Every silver lining has a cloud.  
So, with those two issues by no means resolved but as close to solution as the Council could make them, discussion turned to planning the wedding. And naturally, everyone had a different opinion on the matter, including Taichi and Sora themselves. And everyone was loudly voicing what they thought, why they thought it, and why they had the most right to decide on the issue—simultaneously.   
After much loud altercation, all that they had agreed on was that they all disagreed. It was decided to send Taichi and Sora to the Takenouchi Family mansion at the slopes of Merame Mountain. They both realized that this was a ploy to get them out of the way so there would be one less side arguing at future planning sessions. To block this, they insisted that all the Guardian-trainees, as well as Princess Hikari and Squire Takeru, accompany them on a pretext. Unfortunately, the Council was so desperate to decrease the overall chaos level to accept.


	5. 

Chapter Four

  
"What?! I have to travel all the way to Merame Mountain in the same caravan as _him?!_"  
"Calm down, sis. Daisuke isn't really that bad..."  
"To you, maybe, but I find him an annoying brat. And with the way you keep on pushing him at me, he'll never leave me alone."  
"Frankly, I think you two would make a great pair."  
"Frankly, Taichi, if that's the best you can think of then stay out of matchmaking."  
"As a princess, it's your duty to marry for the good of the kingdom. Daisuke's a Guardian-trainee and can become heir-presumptive, whhich, may I remind you, you can't."  
"Taichi, brother, I love you but sometimes you're an idiot. Daisuke would be an awful King. Marrying him would be for the _bad_ of the kingdom. If you absolutely have to pick a marriage for me, at least pick one intelligently."  
"There aren't any other eligible Guardian-trainees. Well, possibly Yamato, but I thought you'd want someone closer to your own age."  
"You speak of this as if it were already arranged. I've rejected Daisuke many times and will continue to do so. And furthermore, don't you think it a bit presumptive of you to decide people's lives like that? You're not King yet, Taichi, and if you continue to behave in this fashion I almost hope that you never will be."  
"You don't have much right to talk. You may be a princess, but unChosen you can't get into the line of sucession. You need to marry to preserve the kingdom."  
"I'll do so only if and when our parents say so. Taichi, you're only Heir."  
"But I'm the only possible Heir."  
"Well, maybe there's another way. You aren't omniscient. For all we know I might be Chosen tomorrow."  
"Might. You're sixteen, Hikari. If there were a Partner for you, she would have showed up by now."  
  
"You're joking."  
"I rarely make jokes, Koushiro."  
"But..."  
"I'm too old to make the journey. but everyone needs to continue their training. You are the most gifted, magic-wise, of the trainees, so I am delegating you as temporary trainer."  
"But, Gennai! You're the wisest mage in all of File! How can I ever compare to you as a trainer?"  
"I'm not asking you to better me. All I'm asking you to do, _Guardian of Knowledge_, is to learn by teaching. All you need to do is keep their skill level from degrading too much. No new material to teach, just maintenance."  
"But what about Miyako? She has mage-potential, not just Guardian's magic. What if her Gift emerges on the trip?"  
"It probably won't. I wouldn't worry." (AN: Famous last words...)  
  
Takeru sighed. For night watch, he had been paired with Daisuke, which made it a strikingly unpleasant experience. The vast majority of his time was not spent watching for enemies. Rather, it was spent watching Daisuke and waking him up on the frequent occaisions that he fell asleep. _It's a good thing _he_ didn't have to undergo a squire-vigil,_ snickered Takeru to himself._ Probably he'd have been impervious to the wakeroot. Speaking of wakeroot, someone should find some tomorrow; it'll be very useful._  
While shaking Daisuke awake for the tenth time, Takeru noticed movement out of the corner of his eye. He turned towards it. Hikari had wakened. Or had she?  
She wasn't acting as if she were awake. She walked in a sort of daze, almost like a sleepwalk. Still, Takeru would have been inclined to dismiss it as normal groggy behavior but for the fact that Hikari was glowing with a faint pinkish light.  
That light made him guess that she was in a trance of some sort, and that made him decide to follow her. He turned back to Daisuke.  
"Hikari is in some sort of trance. She'll get hurt or lost alone, so I'm going to follow her."  
"I'll go with you."  
"Someone needs to stay and guard the camp."  
With those words Takeru walked off, following Hikari. Daisuke went after, ignoring Takeru's warning to remain at the camp. They both followed her through the woods of File for several hours before they noticed that it was beginning to lighten. They realized that at about the same point that they realized that they were completely and totally lost. In typical male fashion, they each blamed this on the other.  
"You were the one who decided to follow after Hikari."  
"But I told you to stay at the camp."  
After about ten minutes of this, their arguments were cut off by a simeltaneous observation: Hikari was nowhere in sight. They naturally began to argue about whose fault it was that they'd lost track of her. After another fifteen minutes, they came to and finally figured out that it just might be more efficient to solve the problem than distribute blame. They began to look for Hikari, but they didn't need to look very hard. A scream was heard about ten feet away, in what sounded fairly like Hikari's voice.  
They rushed towards the source of the noise, which turned out to be (AN: in typical clichéd fashion...) a group of bandits armed with dirks, a kind of long knife. Hikari had panicked just slightly at the sight of them, but had figured out the intelligent thing to do: run. Unfortunately, it's fairly hard to run fast in a dress, so Hikari would probably be kidnapped and held for ransom, or worse, unless someone else helped.  
Daisuke, showing quite a bit more presence of mind than usual, immediately began to attack the attackers. He used the particular bit of Guardian battle-magic that he had gained from his Digipartner, the Exveelaser. An x-shaped beam of light shot from his hands at one of the theives. Unfortunately, Davis hadn't been practicing that much lately, so the light beam missed. He stared at it for a while, not really comprehending that he'd made a mistake. This hesitation was his downfall; one of the others grabbed him from behind and knocked him out, leaving the entire battle up to Takeru.  
That was not necessarily a good thing for the princess; Yamato had only had time to teach Takeru a few staff tricks. Still, a staff was a good weapon against a crowd, and Takeru had eavesdropped when their father was teaching Yamato staff-fight strategy. So the battle wasn't hopeless, merely a bit doubtful.  
Takeru spun around hard in a circle with the staff whirling around him and going quite fast. After five spins, he'd felled the two dumbest of the eight bandits, but the others were staying well away from the spinning wood. It would only make him dizzy to continue spinning, so he charged at the center of the enemy formation, hoping to split them into two separate groups.  
Not only did they cooperatively divide, they also divded evenly. Perfect. He turned to face one of the clumps, and bluffed an uncontrolled swing towards them. When they scattered, he thrust the staff behind him, hitting a man in the stoamach, hard. He whirled to face the other two from that subgroup, putting his staff up in a diagonal guard, hands apart. They backed away slightly, but he advanced a slight bit more.  
Suddenly there was a swishing noise from behind. The three other bandits all threw their knives at him, hoping one at least would take him out. However, their aim was no better than Daisuke's. It's very unwise to throw away your weapon; retreiving it is a tricky problem. It was not a problem those raiders wanted to solve, and as "there's no honor among theives" they showed their disloyalty and cowardice by running away. Takeru now only faced two.  
These two, however, were a bit more skilled than their fellows. They quickly maneuvered so that Takeru was between them, an easy target as he could only defend against one. He concentrated on the larger of the two, and clumsily fended off the blows he couldn't duck. But his staff was only wood, and they had knives. It was standing up admirably well against attempts to cut it, but it would give way and crack eventually. Realizing this, he stepped backward, hoping to gain more room to maneuver. To clear the way, he swept his staff towards the rear again, this time hitting his enemy in the chest. Only one left; a much fairer fight.  
He swung his staff around in an attempted disarm. Unfortunately, the disarm only suceeded in disarming him; the staff flew high in the air as the force on it became too much for his fifteen-year-old muscles. More luckily, on its trip back earthward the staff hit his opponent on the head, stunning him temporarily. In his daze, he didn't move as Takeru hit him on the knuckles. Or rather until Takeru hit him on the knuckles; at that abrupt pain he dropped his knife.  
"Go. Now." Takeru warned. The thief obeyed.  
He turned back to Hikari. "Princess, are you all right?"  
"Thank you."  
They both looked at each other, slightly embarrased, before diverting their eyes to Daisuke's prone form.  
"Still out, probably."  
"Almost definitely."  
"We need to get back to the others. Let's wake him up; he can communicate with them through Exveeme."  
"Good idea, Hikari... oops... I mean Princess..."  
"It's all right."  
Takeru was surprised; when Daisuke called Hikari by her name, she usually blew up at the familiarity. Ai. There was no accounting for girls, especially princesses.


	6. 

Chapter Five

Sometime after Takeru, Daisuke, and Hikari left the camp, Ken woke up. He slowly drifted towards consciousness, but was abruptly jolted fully awake when he noticed that it was light and well into morning, when Daisuke was supposed to have woken him up for last watch. Now, he wouldn't be at all surprised if Daisuke had fallen asleep, but Takeru was responsible enough not to; that was why he had been paired with Daisuke for watch duty.  
He woke up his watch partner, Miyako, and told her what had happened. She immediately began to panic:  
"What?! They left?! AII! And look. Hikari's gone! What happened?"  
"I told you, Miyako, they left for some odd reason that I don't know," Ken replied, a bit annoyed at Miyako's gushing ways.  
"But why? What happened? Oh no oh no oh no..."  
"I have no idea. Except..." Ken suddenly stiffened. "Master Dark's near here. Or servants of his. I think..." He relaxed. "I'm not sure, though. I mean, why would I know something like that? If the blood-bond's faded so much that not even Gennai can make sense of it, then why would I be able to?"  
"I don't know." But Miyako did know—or rather, she had a guess. She had felt... something... when Ken had stiffened like that. She knew that she had some sort of latent mage-power, and she suspected that Ken had tapped into it somehow. But subconsiously? It just seemed so bizzare.  
"Well, we won't get anything done just complaining about how much of a problem this is. Maybe Exveeme can contact Daisuke. Even if Daisuke is alone and has no idea where Takeru or Hikari is, one person recovered is quite a bit better than none."  
"Agreed."  
Miyako and Ken woke everyone up and advised them as to the situation. Ken, guessing that some would panic even more loudly than Miyako had, quickly added that Exveeme could help locate them. He deliberately failed to mention the fact that Daisuke might be separated from Hikari and Takeru, correctly assuming that it would not be conducive to the group's calmness level. So Exveeme sent a mindcall to Daisuke. But it couldn't get through.  
"I think he's unconscious."  
  
Takeru and Hikari prodded at Daisuke's prone form unsucessfully. He was still out cold, and had showed no signs of waking for the past hour.  
"I'm _this_ far away from just giving up." Hikari said in exasperation.  
"Don't. Daisuke is our only hope of ever finding the others. Be realistic, Hikari. How long will we survive out on our own like this? Not very. We don't know what's edible and what's not, we have no idea of how to find shelter, and I for one don't relish the idea of standing watch half the night for eternity. No man—or woman—is an island. My brother is Guardian of Friendship. If friendship is important enough to warrant its own Guardian, what does that say? Do what you will, Hikari, but _I_ am going to remain hopeful that we will find the others somehow. And waking Daisuke up is our best chance. Hope doesn't mean just standing around waiting for something good to happen. Making your own luck, that's what hope means."  
Those last words seemed to resound through the clearing. _Hope..._ Hikari thought. _Hope... why does he know so much about hope? He can't have learned it from a book. I've studied the books of the Guardians as much as he has if not more, and there's _never_ been a Guardian of Hope. Some prophecies about one though._ She half-recited those to herself, just to see if she still remembered them from her schooling years ago. _And then Hope and Light will beat back Dark, but only together can they do so. Apart they are weak, but in perfect unity nothing may stand against the four angels. _And of course, there was _that_ one, the one that would get stuck in your head for hours on end: _Angel of day and angel of night, angel of hope and angel of light... _(AN: rest omitted because those of you who can stand my feeble attempts at poetry have already read that) So many prophecies... they surely indicated a great nexus critical to the future of the island. It was almost scary to think that Takeru might be the bearer of one of them...  
But yet... there was what happened at the squire ceremony. She had only heard snatches of rumors about it, but if they were true then he had undergone a trance not at all unlike what she had just experienced...  
She was jolted out of her reverie by Takeru's voice announcing, "Well, I'm not giving up entirely, but I will take a short break. Hikari, you're right about the frustration factor. All I really want to do right now is hurt Daisuke severely, and while that has a good chance of waking him up I think he'd be a bit mad if we used that method." He came and sta next to her.  
"I tend to agree. We can't do anything to jeopardize his willingness to help us get back."  
"True. He could just go off and leave us."  
"Tell me this, Takeru. If we could survive on our own, would you mind if Daisuke left us before we were rescued?"  
"What exactly do you mean?"  
"Being a princess means a lot of pressure." She glanced almost involuntarily at Daisuke. Noticing this, Takeru remarked:  
"Even without your high position, Hikari, people would rush to court you."  
"What precisely do you mean by that?"  
Takeru sat silent for a little while, but then Hikari continued.  
"It's not that Daisuke is so persistent that bothers me. It's that I can't escape from it. An unChosen princess is potentially the most volatile politcal situation a person can be in. I _have_ to marry, I _have_ to marry relatively soon, and because my future husband must be both a noble and a Guardian, there are exactly two canidates: your brother and Daisuke. Only one of them has shown any interest."  
"So you might be forced to marry Daisuke?"  
"Unless I'm Chosen relatively soon, yes." She paused. "Or unless some other noble is Chosen soon."  
Another pause. "What _did_ you mean, anyway?"  
Those were dangerous waters. Any statement Takeru made against the engagement Hikari would be trapped in might jeopardize the kingdom. The political situation was so unstable right now that disrupting that marriage might be fatal. But Hikari with Daisuke had the potential to be one of the saddest marriages in history... Was surface stability enough to trap her in this? For all of her sixteen years, she'd led a remarkably sheltered life as princess. Was it fair to let the part of her that was still hopeful for a way out of this mess die? When a dream dies, does it matter? Is killing a dream murder? All Takeru knew was that hope was a precious thing, to precious to destroy. And this was what eventually decided him.  
"Well... you're kind and sweet and beautiful. Anyone would..."  
"Not your brother."  
"He... he took it a bit hard when Sora accepted Taichi. I'm not sure he's that interested in marriage any more. Why? Do you like him that way?"  
"No. But if I have to marry for the good of the country, well, he'd be a lot better for File than Daisuke."  
Takeru could sense her becoming resigned to that duty, and for some odd reason he couldn't stand it. He asked potentially the most explosive and dangerous question.  
"_Is_ there anyone you like that way?"  
Silence, only broken by the chirping of a far-off bird. Neither wanted to say anything. If you say something, acknowledge it, that makes it true. And truth in this case was so wonderful... and so disatsrous... that to speak it would doom them forever to a forlorn hope that could never be.  
  
"Unconscious? You're certain?"  
"I think that I _would_ know..." Exveeme snapped back.  
"Is there any way we can wake him up remotely, Koushiro?"  
"I'm not certain, but possibly if Exveeme sent a really loud mindcall across the link..."  
"I'll try."  
  
So Hikari did not speak of it. Instead she gradually lowered her head until it was leaning on Takeru's shoulder. Her only words were, "I'm sorry to drag you into this," softly, gently.  
"Don't be. When will the engagement be announced?"  
"As soon as we're back in Infinity City. If anything happens before then... maybe..."  
"Keep hope, Hikari. Keep hope." But even as he said that, he wondered if it were not cruelest to encourage her like this. She had been close to accepting her almost certain fate; when this hope was dashed it would hit her that much harder. Still... maybe...  
Exveeme's mindcall came then, so loud that Hikari and Takeru almost heard it. Daisuke's eyes snapped open, and his two companions quickly got up. But they didn't need to worry, for he was in a mindlink and would not have noticed. He spoke to empty air.  
"Exveeme, why did you do that?!"  
"Accepted. Yes, they are with me."  
"I'm not sure. _Takeru_ got us lost." A loud cough erupted.  
"Well, maybe you can try to home in on our position or something."  
"Okay, we can handle that."  
He exited the trance and immediately barked an order. "We need to stay here. Otherwise they can't track us."  
Takeru responded in an undertone. "Well, I think that's what we were doing for the past hour or so."  
Perhaps luckily, only Hikari heard his comment and she managed to stifle her laughter.  



End file.
